With her mother, Floria Ann Goldwire, grandmother, Minnie Goldwire, and a bevy of aunts in Savannah and New York, she was never without an adult ready and eager to urge her on to bigger and better things.

Now married and the mother of three children, Colbert is about to put that rearing to good use as Chatham County’s newest juvenile court judge.

“I’ve always seen juvenile court as being a more hopeful court than its adult counterparts,” Colbert said.

Chatham County’s six superior court judges appointed Colbert, 43-year-old assistant Chatham County attorney, on July 20 to fill the vacancy left by Judge John W. Beam Jr.’s retirement on Friday. The appointment came early at Beam’s request to assist in a smooth transition.

Chief Superior Court Judge Michael Karp called Colbert “the complete package,” combining her “smart as a whip” intelligence with the right temperament and a wide range of professional and community experiences.

Judge Louisa Abbot, for whom Colbert worked as a staff attorney before moving to the county attorney’s office, marveled at Colbert’s ability to manage “a very difficult job as staff attorney with a heavy caseload and raise three daughters.”

A native of Garden City’s Rosignal Hill neighborhood, Colbert moved to New York at age 3. She returned to Savannah each summer until returning for good for the 11th grade before graduating from Groves High School in 1986.

Rearing her, Colbert said, “was like a joint effort” involving her mother and her mother’s eight siblings and grandparents.

Colbert has spent hours in volunteer pursuits, mostly involving child and family issues.

In her new role, she will be able to try new approaches to problems although they frequently will be limited by available resources.

“I didn’t see the court as being necessarily as punitive as adult court,” she said. “I’ve always felt like there were not as many resources to deal with problems for children and their families. … I just see the court as a way to do that.”

She realizes she is filling the shoes of a veteran judge who is recognized around the state as a forward-looking jurist.

She also knows a large part of the job is simply listening to those who come before the court.

“It’s important that they walk away feeling like their position’s been heard and that they be provided with the tools to improve their situation,” she said.